Strawberry Chilli Jam| Spicy Strawberry Relish

Strawberries are in season right now, and they are all over Bangalore. Being the passionate advocate of seasonal eating that I am, how could I resist buying some? 🙂

With one batch of strawberries that I bought, I made this Strawberry Chilli Jam, strawberry jam with the gentle kick of chilli. It’s sweet and berrylicious and wonderful, and a mild punch from the chilli that I added in. It makes for a beautiful spread for bread and toast, and I am planning to do some other things with it as well. And, oh, it looks absolutely fantastic – the red making it a perfect Christmas-time thing to make.

Here’s how I made the Strawberry Chilli Jam.

Ingredients (yields about 1-1/2 cup):

1. About 30 medium-sized strawberries
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 3/4 tablespoon chilli flakes
4. A pinch of salt (optional)
5. A dash of lemon juice (optional)

Method:

1. Remove the green leafy stems from all strawberries. Wash them well and pat dry with a clean cotton cloth.
2. Chop up about 25 strawberries and puree them in a mixer. Keep aside.
3. Chop up the 5 remaining strawberries. Keep aside.
4. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan on high flame. Add the strawberry puree, chopped strawberries, sugar and salt (if using) to the pan. Mix well, and reduce the flame to medium.
5. Cook on medium flame till the mixture begins to thicken. Stir constantly, to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.
6. When the jam is starting to thicken, add in the chilli flakes. Mix well. Cook for a minute or two more, or till the jam reaches a quite-thick-but-still-runny consistency. Switch off the gas.
7. If using lemon juice, mix it in at this stage.
8. Let the jam cool down completely and then transfer to a clean, air-tight, dry container. Store refrigerated when not in use.

Notes:

1. I pureed most of the strawberries, and added a few chopped. You can choose to puree all of them, if you want it that way. Puree into a fine paste or keep it chunky, as per your preferences.
2. You can skip the pinch of salt or choose to add it in. The salt enhances the flavour of the Spicy Strawberry Relish, but it is not a must.
3. If the Strawberry Chilli Jam is tart enough on its own, there’s no need to add in the lemon juice. However, it would make a lovely addition if you think the jam is quite sweet.
4. Increase or decrease the quantity of sugar you use, depending upon how sweet or sour the strawberries are.
5. You can use store-bought or home-made chilli flakes, to make this Spicy Strawberry Relish. I made them at home – I just broke 8-10 dry red chillies into halves and pulsed them a few times in a mixer. I used about 3/4 tablespoon in this jam, and stored the rest of the chilli flakes in a clean, dry, air-tight bottle.
6. You can use red chilli powder for heat as well, instead of the chilli flakes.

You like? I hope you will try out this Strawberry Chilli Jam, and that you will love it as much as we did!

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This post is for the Foodie Monday Blog Hop. The theme for this week is ‘Cooking With Berries’.

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